Alchemy Farm Journal : Messages from the Garden

Since planting my very first, very small, flower patch nearly 3 years ago we have been welcoming different kinds of pollinators, most I've never seen before. Our entire 10 acre farm is buzzing from dawn to dusk with activity. Many times I have gone to harvest flowers only to find them filled with beings having breakfast...I wait and return later to take my turn. Today, the bees were busy in the Liatris...

Most people have no idea that almost all flowers sold by florists and supermarkets are grown tens of thousands of miles away and many times in third world countries and are grown with toxic chemicals, many banned in North America. The next time you admire exotic flowers in the store – and often they are not that exotic – try to imagine the journey that flower has taken to get to you. Perhaps it has travelled from Israel, South Africa, New Zealand or a South American country. You don’t actually know where these flowers are from or what their story is and, even more importantly, how they were grown.

As an environmental artist, my work is about reconnecting people back to Nature, back to the Earth, back to our innate knowing of these connections. I love my work but, I would suddenly find myself overcome with a deep sense of wanting to lie down on the Earth, to listen with my entire being for the heartbeat of the Earth. I yearned to feel the earth in my hands, to be present to the energy of the Earth and Nature in a non-art-making way.

This December we breathed a sigh of relief as our first farming year wound down. After a year of nonstop working, there were no gardens to water, no harvest to bring in, no seeds or plants to coddle. 

Today as my soul breathed in the beauty and grace of this amazing place that we call home, I thought about how much I wanted to share this very special place, and this incredible life we are creating, with those who also hold a dream of leading a more authentic life, a more sustainable life – a sweet life.